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Monday, October 19, 2015

Procrastination or Saving a Life with Heather Boyd

Hi everyone. I’m Heather Boyd, regency romance author from
down under. I’m visiting Tote Bags ‘n’ Blogs to celebrate the release of my
latest regency romance. Miss Merton’s Last Hope, the fourth and final book in
the Miss Mayhem series, came out last week.

Book release weeks are a stressful time for authors no
matter how many stories we have shared with the world. It’s like giving birth
(without the screaming) We pace, lose sleep, and occasionally get snappy with
those closest to us. The first and third habits I mastered long ago. Actually I
mastered those before I became an author… every time I’ve had to speak in
public I’d almost have a meltdown. There are many ways to cope with stressful
events but since I’m not a big drinker or exercise fanatic I’ve had to become
creative with my calming distractions to keep my mind occupied during release
week:

Option one: Movie Marathons – I ran through a few Fringe
episodes, the Loki Trilogy (Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World) and then
dove into a Jane Austen marathon. There were others, but you don’t need all the
titles do you?

Option two: Baking – while watching movies. Choc Chip
Cookies, Scones and even a Chicken and Spinach Quiche. The family happily
gobbled up the food while I cleaned up the mess.

Cleaning up unfortunately didn’t stop the butterflies.

Last book release I cleaned out the kitchen cupboards and
rearranged the linen press. Oh the exciting life a full time author leads.

In desperation I turned to Option three, the one thing more
frightening than the book launch, even worse than public speaking.

I did my quarterly taxes.

Bye, bye butterflies, hello headache! I really must remember
to time my future book releases to these quarterly tax responsibilities. Such a
good distraction and, if it didn’t make me entirely calmer, I was pleased I had
accomplished more than just refreshing my Amazon book page over and over.

Everyone copes with stressful events in his or her own way.
Tell me when you’ve got a big event you both long for and dread at the same
time, how do you keep calm?

About Heather: Bestselling
author Heather Boyd writes sizzling regency
historical romance that skirt the boundaries of propriety to keep readers
enthralled until the wee hours of the morning. She has published over twenty
novels and shorter works. Catch her latest news at www.heather-boyd.com

I watch tv shows from the netfliz (I'm in the US but I love BBC period pieces or on DVDs from the library:Bomb Girls, Dr. Finlay, Wind at my Back, Doc Martin, Foyle's War, Miss Fischer's Murder Mysteries, Bomb Girls, Blue Bloods, Call the Midwife, etc.